Chinese cracker
Early in January 2007, Professor Chun Li Bai
became the first of SCI’s new patrons to visit
International Headquarters in Belgrave Square and meet managers and employees. With experience and influence in academia and industry, SCI patrons provide
support towards advancing SCI’s aims
and objectives
 Chun Li Bai, executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has become SCI’s first patron, a new position embracing influential figures from industry, academia and government, who are willing to lend their names in support of SCI’s aims and objectives. Bai was the recipient of the SCI International Medal for 2001, is a prolific author of both papers and books and an authority in the field of scanning tunnelling microscopes, an area he has championed in his native China.
A graduate in chemistry from Peking University, Bai gained a doctorate from the CAS Institute of Chemistry and spent two years as a research associate at the California Institute of Technology. Much of his work has gone into promoting multidisciplinary research and ensuring that there is sufficient investment in the development of talent for China’s future requirements.
Other recently appointed patrons are RA Mashelkar, president of the Indian National Science Academy and former director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in India, and Raj Gupta, chairman, president and ceo of speciality materials company Rohm and Haas. SCI patrons lend their support to specific activities in the Society in a way that benefits both themselves and SCI.
Bai is clear about the significant opportunities offered by his new role. ‘SCI has been a very important organisation for chemistry and the chemical industry for over 100 years,’ he said. ‘I believe as a patron of the Society that I can contribute to promoting communication among scientists and in industry and improve technology transfer. For example, the impending launch of BioFPR journal (Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining) touches on one of the most important sectors that affects our industry – energy.’
While patrons do not play any part in the governance of the Society, Bai said that he will strive to support the new structure of SCI to help it grow internationally and globally. ‘SCI is establishing its Indian subsidiary later this year and plans are advanced for its office in China. I believe I can support this activity and help SCI to play a more important role in the promotion of chemistry worldwide,’ he said.
Bai believes that co-operation between SCI and academia and industry in China can bring other additional benefits. The number of academic papers written by Chinese chemists and published in journals around the world is growing rapidly. He said that ‘Chinese scientists want to collaborate more effectively and SCI could be used as a platform for better communication and co-operation with industry.
‘China needs more scientific innovation, particularly in energy, chemistry and the environment,’ Bai said. ‘Protecting our environment is very important and we need more innovation and technical ideas. I would like to help establish the principles of SCI to promote a linkage between academia and industry across the nation. China is still in a transitional stage and has much to learn from developed countries.’
Somewhat modestly, Bai shies away from being heralded as an ‘ambassador’ for science. ‘The Chinese Academy of Sciences, of which I am executive vice president, is the highest research institution in China. In my role as patron of SCI, I can fulfil an important function in international co-operation in science and in industry and promote chemistry more effectively. I am very honoured to be asked by SCI to become a patron and I would like to thank its members for this opportunity.’
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